The coronavirus outbreak has had a major impact on how we all live our lives to stop the spread of the disease.

But council services still need to run to help keep our bins collected, roads safe and vulnerable people looked after.

Dartford Borough Council has made changes to several of its services for residents in the town and we'll be keeping you updated throughout the lockdown on the impact to services, what advice is being issued and what is closed.

Events

The council has announced the cancellation or suspension of a number of summer events including cancellation of the 2020 Dartford Festival.

Bin collections

At the moment, Dartford Borough Council says it is still able to provide a full service to residents.

Kent County Council announced last week its tips would be closed until further notice.

Homeless

Prior to the government’s announcement last week increasing funding for local authorities to support homeless, the council has made the decision to offer accommodation to any rough sleeper and is continuing to resource this service in full.

Vulnerable people facing a food emergency

Those who are considered vulnerable facing a food emergency – where other members of their household cannot provide food and medicine supplies or are not part of an active family or neighbour network – Dartford Borough Council intend to add them to its delivery cohort with the aim that no-one is left without an offer of support.

‘Extremely Vulnerable’ residents identified by the NHS and Government

Some of the 1.4 million people identified as ‘Extremely Vulnerable’ by the NHS and the government live in the Dartford borough and the council has been able to negotiate storage space for bulk food deliveries from the town centre and developed a multi-drop delivery capacity to ensure much needed supplies can reach these identified residents.

The first bulk delivery was made in the last weekend in March and the council is also preparing for growth of this service as the crisis continues.

Parking

Dartford Borough Council has suspended parking charges in all of its pay and display car parks.

The council has also relaxed conditions of Resident Parking Schemes to reflect more family members now working from home. It has also confirmed NHS and healthcare staff, along with community volunteers, will have any penalties waived whilst they are supporting the community response to Covid-19.

‘Dartford Together’ Facebook group

As well as updating the council’s website to provide up to date and official Covid-19 information, Dartford Borough Council has launched a Dartford Together platform on Facebook.

This page will relay information to the community immediately and share information from other trusted and official sources.

The council says it will continue to adopt a flexible and "people-focused" approach to ensure residents can maintain their daily lives as much as possible and help contribute to them staying safe and well during this period of lockdown.

Council spokesman, Lewis Kirnon, said: "Dartford Borough Council is working hard to keep our essential services running as normal as possible during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. Our main focus has been on the needs of our residents and communities while working to ensure that guidance from central government is followed."

For the latest coronavirus news and advice, click here.